101 days
by SJC8
Summary: Following Colonel Jack O'Neill's return from being stranded on Edora, Major Samantha Carter struggles to reconcile her conflicting emotions. However, it doesn't go unnoticed. Spoilers for '100 days' and 'There but for the grace of God'.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Stargate SG-1 or any of the Characters, and I'm not making any money from this. It's just for fun so please don't sue me. Thanks very much folks ;-)

Also, I don't know what possessed me to attempt this as I know there are far better writers who are about to submit something mind blowing related to the episode 100 days, but here goes. Let the tomatoes fly!

**101 days.**

Colonel Jack O'Neill and walked down the ramp from the open Stargate into a heroes welcome with his arms in the air

"General! It's good to see you Sir! Miss me?" He grinned, glad to be back on Earth.

General Hammond stood at the base of the ramp waiting expectantly

"It's good to see you too Jack. SG-1 - job well done people. Report to the infirmary and debrief in 1 hour"

"Yes Sir"

O'Neill shook his head at the memory of post mission medicals and big honking needles. There were some things he hadn't missed.

The remaining members of SG-1, Major Samantha Carter, Dr Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c filed wearily from the gate room behind O'Neill. None of them had truly rested in the 3 months Jack O'Neill had been trapped off world, they had all applied their own unique talents in exercising an effective rescue plan and supported each other through the their darkest hours.

Daniel stole a glance at Sam, she looked pale and thinner than usual. She had not left the mountain in the last three months save for the return trip to Edora to retrieve Jack, working tirelessly in her laboratory on the particle beam generator that enabled them to cut through the layer of solidified Naquada and establish a method of transporting Jack home. Without saying a word she left the gate room and marched towards the armoury to return her P90.

Daniel knew something was wrong with his friend but he couldn't quite make out what it was. They had all been surprised at how successfully O'Neill had made a new life for himself in the time he had been stuck on Edora, but Sam had barely said two words since they had watched O'Neill say his heartfelt goodbye to the family he had been staying with while he was stranded. All watched, except Sam who had turned away to look at the damage from the recent meteor shower that had caused O'Neill to be stranded in the first instance.

After signing her weapon back into the armoury Carter reported to the infirmary as ordered for her post mission check up. O'Neill was catching up with Sergeant Siler who had been receiving treatment on his foot after apparently dropping a large wrench on it during a recent MALP repair. Chief Medical Officer Janet Frasier smiled as she walked over to Sam who was perched on the edge of an infirmary bed watching the conversation with O'Neill and Siler from a distance patiently waiting for her medical exam.

"Pleased to have him back huh?" Janet questioned the Air force Major as she began her routine post gate-travel checks

"Yeah" Carter replied flatly, before focusing her gaze on the wall somewhere across the room.

"You OK Sam? You seem a little.. Distracted"

"I'm fine Janet. Really. It's just been a long 3 months. I still can't quite believe he's back"

Her words were fitting but they sounding hollow. Dr Frasier eyed her friend carefully, remembering how she had practically had to order Carter to leave her lab and rest during the construction of the particle beam generator. Despite Sam's assurances the doctor had been concerned that the Major's motivation to get O'Neill back to earth may stronger than it should be. No one could deny that all of SG-1 were close, they had seen each other through some of the most unimaginable times, but it still bothered Janet Frasier to see that look in her friend's eyes while O'Neill was lost to them.

"Hmm, you've been pushing yourself hard lately. After the debrief today I'd like you to take some time off and rest, at LEAST a week. I'd rather not have to make it an order Sam"

Carter just nodded with a tight smile as Janet took samples of her blood and injected her with the usual cocktail of broad spectrum antibiotics to kill off any bugs that she or members of her team may have brought back through the gate with them.

"Wow, no protests? You must be tired." Frasier remarked surprised at the silence from Major Carter who rarely took any time out of the SGC without being ordered to.

Sam just looked at her friend, not taking the bait. She wanted to get out of there and finish this day as quickly as possible. "We done?" she asked

"All done - and Sam, no taking work home"

Sam smiled wryly at the CMO as she hoped off the infirmary bed

"Yes Doctor"

As Sam left the infirmary, Dr Frasier turned her attention to O'Neill who was grinning at her from a bed next to Siler.

"Hey Doc! Long time no see!"

"Colonel, a pleasure to see you as always" Said Frasier with a slight dry tone as she prepared a syringe of antibiotics.

"What? We couldn't start with a thermometer first?"

Janet smiled mischievously as she put the needle to one side and started to examine the glands in O'Neills neck "So, you appear to be in pretty good shape considering you've been off world for the last three months roughing it."

"Oh I wouldn't say I was roughing it. Laira's home was basic but it was comfortable. Nothing like a day of rebuilding houses to make you appreciate even the most simple bed." Jack reminisced over his time with the Edorans. Although he was glad to be back he knew he would miss them.

"Laira really made me welcome, she gave me some clothes that she made for her husband before he died." Jack looked at the floor as a pang of guilt hit him. Laira had been good to him and he felt bad leaving, but he knew ultimately his home was here on Earth, at the SGC and with his team.

"Laira?" she asked curiously as she drew some of O'Neills blood for testing.

"Yeah, the Edoran woman who I stayed with while I was stranded. She even persuaded the villages not to grab the torch and pitchforks after the meteor hit. I think she liked having a guy around the place again."

"Oh, make yourself useful huh?" Janet smiled at him "OK Colonel, turn around and loosen your belt'" Her smile took a mischievous turn as she picked up the needle again. Jack was certain this was her favourite part of her work at the SGC.

Wincing expectantly he dropped the waist band of his combat pants and leaned on the bed in front of him "You could say that. I felt kind of bad seeing her so disappointed as Carter was prattling on about something technical on how she'd reopened the gate.."

On hearing her friend's explanation of the elaborate rescue of O'Neill described as 'Prattling' Frasier jammed the needle hard into O'Neill's firm behind.

"Argh! Hey Doc go easy on the rear huh?!"

"Sorry Colonel" she said it without a hint of remorse. "I'm sure Major Carter was just excited telling you all about the particle beam generator she invented to rescue your _rear _from Edora, Sir"

Her tone had changed to decidedly curt and boarded on insubordination. O'Neill frowned at her but said nothing, the women of the base looked out for each other, especially after the whole Hathor incident, and he knew he should have been more tactful in his description, in particular around Janet Frasier.

"We're all finished here. Colonel. You've been off world for a long time so I'd like you to stay on base until your blood test results come back just to be sure"

Rubbing his backside O'Neill zipped up his combat pants and collected his jacket.

"Just as long as I get to spend the weekend at home, Siler's been taping my _favourite _TV show and I've got a lot of catching up to do"

Later in the briefing room, all of SG-1 sat around the table as Teal'c explained how he had managed to break through the rock dome just in time has he had been perilously low on Oxygen.

"Had it not been for O'Neill digging on the other side, it is doubtful that I would have breached the dome before the Oxygen supply expired" he explained stoically.

"I got to hand it to you Teal'c, when I saw you hanging down in that hole, I've never been so please to see any of you guys" O'Neill grinned at him from across the table.

"Don't get me wrong, the Edorans are a great bunch of people, once you get to know them, but I was having a hard time thinking that I'd never set foot in the SGC again. It was Laira that really helped me face the fact that I might be there for the rest of my life. I think it was kind of hard on her when the cavalry arrived."

O'Neill stole a glance at Carter remembering with a little guilt his run in with Janet in the infirmary. Sam had avoided his gaze through the whole debrief, very unlike her.

Turning back to General Hammond, Jack continued "Once things have settled down and trade negotiations all done for the Naquada I'd like to have the chance to visit"

General Hammond nodded, listening intently before turning to Carter and Daniel who were sat farthest from him.

"I take it we've informed the Tok'Ra and the Tollens that we no longer require the assistance of one of their ships in retrieving Colonel O'Neill?"

Sam wasn't paying attention and appeared to be staring at the centre of the table lost in thought. Daniel hesitated waiting for Sam to respond but seeing her distracted he interjected

"Er.. Yes General, I had a message sent to both the Tok'Ra and the Tollen homeworld the moment we got back. The Tollen are interested in the solution Sam came up with to cut though the hardened Naquada layer above the Edoran gate."

Sam was still staring into the space in the centre of the table as Daniel spoke, not seeming to hear anything of what he was saying. The room fell silent as everyone's eyes turned to Sam waiting for her to say something.

O'Neill sat up in his chair confused by the behaviour of his 2IC, he leaned forward towards where Carter was sat next to Teal'c.

"Carter?"

Her blue eyes snapped up to meet his bringing her back from her reverie.

"Sorry Sirs. I was just thinking" she blushed slightly and shifted nervously in her seat.

"Thinking huh" O'Neill said dryly. He frowned and sat back in his chair.

"Major are you alright?" General Hammond asked concerned. He practically expected Jack to drift off in a daydream during a debrief but it was almost unheard of for Sam Carter to do the same.

"Er..yes Sir. Sorry, I'm fine. I…I'm just a little tired. Dr Frasier has requested that I take the next week off before returning to duty. With your permission of course Sir"

"Permission granted Major. Dr Jackson, please inform the Tollans that SG-1 is on stand down for the next 2 weeks for R & R and that Major Carter will liaise with them over the particle beam generator technology on her return. Hopefully once they see what our people are capable of they won't be so keen to refer to us as 'primitive' and start sharing some of their own technology. SG-1 consider yourselves dismissed until 08:00 on the 15th. Good work people"

With that everyone stood as General Hammond left the table. Carter made a swift exit towards the control room stairs avoiding the eyes of her team mates.

Daniel watched her leave concerned but was distracted when O'Neill tapped his shoulder.

"What's with Carter?"

"Well, Jack she's not left the base in the last three months, in fact we've had to get Janet to order her out of her lab or take her supplies of coffee and jell-o just to get her to eat anything in between working on the generator. There's a few physics text books that are going to have to be re-written once they get a hold of that thing at Area 51"

"Oh"

Jack stood feeling like a prize turkey as the reality of what she had gone through to get him back slowly sunk in. He hadn't understood what the fuss was all about with this particle generator, Carter built stuff all the time that he didn't understand, but the way Daniel was describing it told him this wasn't his usual brand of Carter genius.

"Yeah. Look, I know you got close to the Edorans while you were gone but did you have to cut Sam off like that when she was explaining all this to you back on the planet?" Daniel looked at him frowning "I'm just saying Jack, we all worked hard to get you back here, but some of us worked a lot harder than others"

After the debrief Sam Carter had left the room as quickly as she could. Out of the corner of her eye she had seen O'Neill open his mouth about to call to her but seem to think better of it. Sam went straight to the locker room and changed into her bike leathers, picked up her helmet and began to make a beeline for the elevator before she could run into anyone, especially not her CO. She was tired, confused, and annoyed at herself for feeling so attached to her commanding officer. It was time to get away and get some perspective back.

Making it to the elevator doors without passing any of her team she swiped her base pass and called the car to her level. Teal'c must have been exhausted from digging his way through the rock dome and was no doubt entering a deep state of Kel'nor'em by now, Daniel was sending a message to the Tollen homeworld, which left O'Neill as the only loose cannon. He'd be stuck on base for a while longer getting his test results back from Janet so all she had to do was leave now to make a clean get away, he couldn't follow her.

The car arrived and she got in exhaling with relief that it was empty and no one was around. Just as the doors were closing she glimpsed her CO rounding the corner at the end of the hall, he'd spotted her and started to jog towards the elevator doors. Stepping back in the car she was glad to see the doors shut in time for him not to be able to catch her. Sam leaned back against the steel walls and focused on the red digital display inside the car as the levels ticked over to the surface, there were no more stops and as the doors opened she felt the cold damp air of the world outside touch her face.

Breathing a little deeper she signed out from the base and walked over to her bike. It had been raining and the roads were wet. Normally she'd have her car with her in wet weather but with living on base for so long the summer had turned to autumn and the evening was much cooler and wetter than the sunny morning she'd rode to work so long ago. It was more dangerous riding on wet roads but at that moment Sam didn't care, she wanted out of the base and nothing was going to get in her way.

Sam cast her leg over the bike and sat back to put her helmet on. Just as it slid over her head she heard the voice of her CO some distance behind her

"Carter! Wait a second"

'Damn it!' he'd followed her. Pretending that she hadn't heard him from so far behind she quickly started her bike and pushed back on the kick stand. Thankful it had started the first time after being stood for so long she revved the engine to drown out the muffled calls of her name. Without looking back she turned the front wheel and rode away quickly, missing O'Neill's hand reaching out to tap her shoulder.

O'Neill grimaced as he watched her ride away. He knew she had heard him, and he knew she was avoiding him. He had behaved like an ass, and he knew that too.

Banned from leaving the base he looked at his truck quickly and thought about following her but then dismissed it. He'd give her some space then drop by her house to apologise.

Turning back to the base elevator he considered his first month on Edora and the time when he pondered the things he missed most, of all the people he thought he'd never see again. It was the thought of not seeing his team again that had bothered him the most.

In fact, more and more it had been thoughts of Sam Carter that had lingered in his mind longest and the thought of never seeing her again. What had really baked his noodle, was _why_ not seeing Carter again had bothered him. Just as he'd done on Edora Jack pushed it to the back of his mind putting the confusion down to the cacophony of emotion that had carried him after the Stargate had been buried. That had to be it, the alternative was not an option.

Steadily making her way home through the dusky streets of Colorado Springs on the back of her 1940's vintage Indian motor cycle , Sam Carter started to feel a little better. Her team had been through a lot together and since Colonel O'Neill and herself were the only two air force officers on the team they had a mutual bond. Their shared love of flying and fascination with the night's sky that had drawn them both to the Air Force and the Stargate program, and all they had seen each other through since forged that bond. That's all it was, she told herself. Nothing more. She did not have inappropriate feelings for her Commanding Officer. They were just good friends.

Sure, he was an attractive man, but there were a lot of attractive men in the military and Sam wasn't the type to be swayed just by appearances. Thinking about it, she would have worked hard to rescue any member of her team, there was no way she'd abandon any of them when something could be done.

Taking deep breaths and letting the hum of her bike ride dissolve the knots in her tired body she felt her sense of calm and perspective gain control. Pulling up at her house she pushed the bike around to the back garage and fished for the keys in her pocket.

Entering the front door Sam cast her mind to the last time she remembered being at home. Everything was where she left it only now there was a large pile of unopened mail on the hall table. The next door neighbour was a retired Air Force veteran who lived there with his wife and daughter. A keen gardener and friend of her father, he often mowed the lawn and collected up the post for her when she disappeared for weeks at a time. Sam returned the favour whenever she could by helping his daughter Jennifer with her math homework, and by fixing their home computer should they have a problem. Trusting him implicitly, Sam had given him a spare key to her home to put her post inside and take care of the plants in her absence.

"Wow. I must remember to thank Mr Thomas tomorrow" Sam said to herself thankful to have such a good neighbour. As she locked her front door she decided to leave opening the post until the next day relieved to be home at last .

A little while later surrounded by soft candle light, Sam was relaxing in a hot bath tub sipping a cold beer. After spending so long cooped up in her lab thinking solely about getting O'Neill home it was logical to see how her feelings of friendship towards her Commanding Officer may have been clouded. Logical. That's something she could understand, explain, deal with.

"Girl, you need to get out more!"

She groaned loudly and berated herself for letting it get to this point, for loosing her objectivity and getting her head get stuck thinking she had deeper feelings for O'Neill. Shaking it off Sam carefully placed her beer bottle on the edge of the bath tub then sank beneath the bubbles.

It felt good to allow the world to slip away and let her body ease out from the weight. With her eyes closed and the water in her ears muffling the sounds from her quiet neighbourhood, tiredness finally laid claim to Sam's body and she floated up to the surface. As her legs bent up to lay her head low in the tub, water ran slowly down her thighs and lapped around the edges of her breasts and face soothing her. She lay there for a while enjoying the warmth as it breathed life back into her bones like a lover's touch. Her ears were still beneath the waterline, yet there was definitely a faint but familiar sound invading the periphery of her consciousness. Sitting up slow Sam listened intently as stars swam in front of her vision from the hot water. There was someone at her front door.

"Crap"

Inwardly cursing whoever it was banging on the door to her home at such a late hour she dragged herself from the bath and wrapped a towel around herself. The air outside the steamy bathroom felt cold against her wet skin as she padded down the hallway into the darkness towards the front door. Looking through the thin veil that covered the glass she saw a familiar outline of Daniel Jackson.

"Daniel? Is that you?" She had no intention of opening the door in her current state of dress, perhaps she could get rid of him.

"Yeah! Sam, are you okay? Can you open the door?"

"I was in the bath Daniel. Is it important? I'm going to need a minute or two to put something on"

"Oh! er, sorry, I er.." He stumbled at the thought of his friend in a state of undress on the other side of the door. "It's not urgent or anything, I just wanted to check that you were ok. You left the briefing room pretty quick and you didn't say goodbye to anyone"

Shivering a little as the water on her skin evaporated Sam was torn between her friends concern and the urge to get back into the warm bath. She opened the door very slightly and put her head around the edge so that she could see her friend while still remaining covered.

"Hey Daniel. I appreciate your concern, really, but I'm fine. Colonel O'Neill is back now and I just wanted to come home and get some rest."

Daniel stood awkwardly with his hands in with pockets and his head tipped forward looking up at her carefully. In the short time since he had seen her last she did seem a little better. Maybe that was just it, she wanted some time to herself now. The soft perfume scent of bubble bath tickled his nose and he was drawn back out of his train of thought.

"Well if you're sure you're ok, then I guess I'll go home and let you get back in the tub before you get cold. Promise you'll call me though, you know, if you need anything, or you want some company.." He stopped as the double meaning of his words dawned on him and he became uncomfortably aware that she was using the door to cover her modesty.

He backed down the porch steps looking everywhere but at Sam to distract his mind and prevent the impending blush from burning it's way to his cheeks.

"I promise" She smiled "Take care Daniel"

"Right." He smiled back embarrassed "Goodnight then"

"Night"

As he turned to leave, Sam closed the door and locked it firmly before heading back to her bathroom shaking her head and smiling. Daniel was one of the sweetest most caring people she had ever known and even if he did disturb her bath late in the evening, she was still glad that he was her friend and that he cared about her.

Slipping back down under the bubbles Sam picked up her beer and finished it. The alcohol seeped into her blood stream through the emptiness of her stomach, leaving warm tingles in her muscles wherever it touched. Lazily soaping up a sponge she cleaned off the remains of the day before getting out of the tub and letting the water go.

Warm and sleepy, she finished getting ready for bed and climbed beneath the sheets. Her eyelids heavy Sam knew it wouldn't be long until she was in a deep sleep as the comfort of her own bed enveloped her. Tomorrow after a good night's sleep, things would be better.

Jack O'Neill lay awake staring at the ceiling of his home. Doctor Frasier had eventually released him from the base and he had been eager to get home and assure himself that his house had not suffered any ill fortune in his absence. With everything as he had left it and the hour being too late to start his Simpson's TV marathon, he had showered and tried to sleep.

His bed felt distantly familiar, nothing had changed but he had become a stranger to it. Not having anyone sleep there for such a long time the bed was much colder than usual. Jack realised how he had grown accustomed to the bed he shared with Laira on Edora, having her warm body laying next to him and the comforting smell of the wood frame. Laying there in the dark he let his mind wander for a long time about how his bed was so much like the rest of his life.

Tomorrow he would have to go over to Carter's house, eat some humble pie and patch things up with her. He didn't often admit it to himself, and never to anyone else through fear of stirring rumours, but Sam Carter was his best friend.

After Kowalski died at the hands of the Go'auld, Sam had been the first there to offer words of comfort even though he had barely known her a week and he'd given her a hard time through most of it. Since then he lost count of the times she had never let him down and gone back to save his sorry ass even at the risk of her own life. He trusted her completely and believed that she always had an answer when they found themselves in trouble, even when she doubted herself to find one. He believed in Sam like he believed the Sun would rise after the night.

Maybe that was it. He had taken for granted that she would always think of something and forgotten that although She always did come up with a plan, getting there wasn't always easy.

Jack tossed in his bed for the hundredth time unable to get comfortable. The problem with admitting that Sam was his best friend was that he found her attractive and she was his second in command. For men and women to remain 'just friends' there has to be a degree of repulsion between the two, and only thing repelling O'Neill was the thought of wrecking her career that she had worked so hard for. He would never do that, and as her commanding officer it was his responsibility to ensure their relationship remain purely professional. Or at least as purely professional as it can be when your lives depend on each other on a day-to-day basis. There are some bonds that forge deeply whether you want them to or not.

"Get a grip Jack" He said gruffly aloud.

He did not allow himself the luxury of thinking about Carter in that way, she deserved more respect. He hadn't let himself slip down that train of thought since Doctor Samantha Carter had appeared from an Alternate reality beyond the quantum mirror.

It still confused the hell out of him when he remembered that day. They looked the same - except for the hair, they sounded the same, and they behaved the same. To think that Doctor Sam Carter and 'General' Jack O'Neill, who apparently was just like him in every way, had been happily married in another universe boggled his mind. Did that mean that something for him and Sam outside their working relationship and military ranks?

Sighing heavily and pushing the thought to the back of his mind, again, Jack turned over in his cold, empty bed. At least with Laira he had someone to share his life with, he missed that.

The Sun started to rise in the distance, yellow beams of light broke through the trees and began to diffuse between the blades of his bedroom blinds. The soft light distracted his mind and began to warm the bed where he lay. It was just enough to calm the swirling torrent of thought that had raged though the night and lull O'Neill into an exhausted sleep.

Wandering gingerly up the short path to Carter's house, Jack O'Neill was still not entirely sure that he knew what to say, but then he had always been a man a few words and always let his instinct guide him on which ones were appropriate at the time. A trait that had often got him in and out of some sticky situations with equal measure.

He shifted slightly uncomfortably on her doorstep before becoming annoyed at himself. Clearing his throat he pressed the doorbell and waited. The familiar voice of his second in command came from somewhere around the back of the house.

"What the hell is the matter with you! You stupid old hunk of junk!"

Surprised at this sudden outburst O'Neill wondered for a second if he was the 'stupid old hunk of junk' she was referring to. Leaning over the edge of the plant pot covered porch and craning his neck he saw Carters long legs protruding out from under her vintage Volvo sports car. She hadn't seen him or heard the doorbell over the radio playing in her makeshift garage. O'Neill smiled to himself, even on her days off she was finding something to tinker and fix. He wandered off the porch and over to the side of the car where he looked down through the open hood to where Carter was attempting to repair something.

"Hey Carter, what'cha doing?"

"Wha..Ah!" Sam jumped with surprise and hit her head on the underside of her car. Sliding out from underneath the vehicle she climbed to her feet rubbing her head, obliviously smearing oily finger prints onto her porcelain skin.

"Sorry Sir, Hi. I… er… didn't see you there"

Any nervousness O'Neill had before about coming over to apologise to Carter was forgotten as he took in her appearance. She was dressed in blue coveralls tied around her waist by the sleeves with a pale grey vest top underneath that reminded him of _that_ tank top, all of which was covered in dark oily smears from the repairs on her car, just as her face was now. Carter was not smiling at him, in fact she looked annoyed at the disturbance, although you'd have to know her well to see it in the expression on her face.

Wiping the smirk off his face quickly he remembered why he was here. He stuffed one hand into his pocket and used the other to attempt nonchalant circles in the air as he meandered through explaining his presence.

"I thought I'd drop by, say hello, see how you are, you know, thank you properly for getting me home… to Earth… again - which I'm very grateful for I might add, and… …. apologise for behaving like an ass and not saying all this yesterday before you left the base in such a hurry.."

Caught completely off guard Sam avoided his gaze by picking up the first rag close to hand in her little garage and started cleaning the oil off her hands frowning as she listened. "It's fine Sir really, we all worked hard, just like you would have if it was any of us stuck off world…"

"Why did you leave so quickly yesterday?" O'Neill interrupted "I tried to catch up with you on base but you must not have heard me before you ..rode off" He gave her a gentle look that said he knew that she had heard him and pretended not to.

"I er, I was tired Sir. I just wanted to get home to my own bed, you know. Take some time off like you keep ordering me to" She wore a tight nervous smile and tried to avoid his gaze as though looking at him would reveal the truth in all it's colours.

"So…you're not mad at me?" O'Neill kept his eyes fixed on her knowing that if he kept it up long enough he'd back her into a corner and get the truth one way or another.

Knowing full well what he was up to she took the bull by the horns snapping her gaze up to him burning her Sapphire blue eyes into the intense dark brown of his.

"Why would be mad at you, Sir?" the tone of her voice was calm and controlled yet edged with something more.

"'cos I took it for granted. What you did, what you built to get me home. I didn't listen"

He said softly holding her gaze, and watching the emotions wash though her face. The softening as she realised that there was no way she could be mad at him for more than a few seconds when he grovelled like this, the sigh of relief that the tension between them had gone leaving only annoyance that she'd let him off the hook without really telling him what he'd put her through, again.

O'Neill took a step forwards until he was just a few inches away and speaking quietly to her

"I never really gave up hope you know, not entirely. They kept telling me to leave it alone, to let go of my old life…. it took a long time digging around in that crater to accept it. I started to think that maybe you and Teal'c hadn't made it back when the Stargate was buried."

From the moment Sam had seen O'Neill with Laira saying goodbye she had thought that he was happy with her and didn't want to return to Earth. That all her hard work and worry over him had been in vain. While he was trapped on Edora her thoughts had been filled with getting him home, not leaving a man behind, not abandoning one of their team. In the moments when sleep overcame her for a few hours a night her last memories of the day were filled with him, wondering how he was and what he was doing, if he was still alive, but she had never considered that he would have worried for Teal'c and herself. As realisation dawned pangs of guilt took hold.

"You thought we were dead?" Her eyes searched his face trying to read the unreadable man, there was nothing covered up, in his eyes he bared the truth.

"After a while, when no one came, I started to wonder"

The memories of their reunion came flooding back and all the reason for her hurt. Even with her feelings for him aside, O'Neill had brushed her off on the planet and she would have been upset at anyone treating her that way, the Marines at the mountain were badly behaved but she didn't expect it from her own team.

"You didn't seem to pleased to see m- us… when we did come, Sir"

He knew she wouldn't come out and say it, not verbally at least, but it was clear to him now just as it was clear to Daniel in the briefing room, he's pushed her aside and she was mad at him for it.

"I know. You'll just have to believe me on this one…I was…am pleased to see you. And I'm very grateful for all you did to bring me home"

The corner of Sam's mouth lifted in a small smile as she peered at him slightly bashfully through her eye lashes. Then she shook her head and pouted mocking him a little as she spoke.

"Ah, it was nothing"

O'Neill chuckled softly and reached out to pull her into a brief friendly embrace, she smiled at him and hugged him back carefully so as not to cover him in the motor oil on her hands.

"We good?" He asked, pulling back from their embrace to look at her properly.

"Yeah" she smiled at him, the one that she saved just for him that reached all the way up to her eyes and lit up her whole face. The 10,000 watt smile. "We're good"

"Good. Now go get changed, Daniel and Teal'c are coming over in half an hour, your hosting the 'welcome home' barbeque"

He grinned his usual cheeky grin, full of mischief as Sam's face filled with horror.

"WHAT!!! Sir! I have no food in the house! You couldn't have called and told me?!!"

"Relax Carter, Daniel's taking care of it, all you have to do is provide the venue… and maybe take a shower"

She threw the rag she had been holding at him shaking her head and walked past him back towards the house to get cleaned up. O'Neill caught the rag against him shirt and smiled.

"Yep, we're good"


End file.
